Guardiola was gracious in defeat and conceded the title was Bernabeu-bound.

"I want to congratulate Madrid for the win and for the league they are going to win," he said in remarks reported by the AS.

Guardiola appeared to prioritise Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Chelsea - they go into the return 1-0 down - by dropping Cesc Fabregas to the bench and starting with Cristian Tello.

And it backfired with the youngster missing a couple of excellent chances.

"Maybe I was wrong, leaving out Cesc," he said.

"But what I can say is that Tello had a fantastic match in defence and attack. We played with many young players and that is very good news."